Republican presidential hopefuls were united in their rejection of President Barack Obama’s plan to begin scaling back American forces in Afghanistan. But they were divided on whether he went too far or not nearly far enough.

Obama’s former ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman, did not even wait until the speech began to put out a statementcalling for steeper troop drawdowns as part of “a focused counter-terror effort which requires significantly fewer boots on the ground than the President discussed tonight.”

“We need a safe but rapid withdrawal which encourages Afghans to assume responsibility, while leaving in place a strong counter intelligence and special forces effort proportionate to the threat,” Huntsman said. “The War on Terror is being fought against a global enemy, and it is critical that we have the resources to fight them wherever they’re found.”

But former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty argued that Obama was going too far, saying he found it “deeply concerning” that the president called for the United States to “responsibly end these wars.”

“He said we need to end the war, quote unquote, responsibly. When America goes to war, America needs to win,” Pawlenty said in an appearance on Fox News after the East Room address.

Rick Santorum, in a statement, also charged Obama with being unfocused on winning in Afghanistan, and said withdrawal was politically motivated.

“President Obama speaks of winding down our engagement in Afghanistan, but he does not emphasize the need for victory,” Santorum said. “Every American wants our brave men and women home safely, but we cannot let those who’ve given the last full measure die in vain by abandoning the gains we’ve made thus far.”

“This decision should not be based on politics or economics,” Romney said. “America’s brave men and women in uniform have fought to achieve significant progress in Afghanistan, some having paid the ultimate price. I look forward to hearing the testimony of our military commanders in the days ahead.”

Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton also charged Obama with playing political games with the drawdown plan.

“We wouldn’t even be here today had it not been for the president himself setting this arbitrary 18-month timeframe when he announced the surge in December 2009,” Bolton told Fox News host Greta Van Susteren.

Bolton called the timeframe convenient, noting it occurred ahead of the presidential primary season and the general election.

“He needs to appease the left wing of his own party, which he has done, but he needs to avoid a debacle on the battlefield before November 2012.”

The speech prompted no reaction on troop withdrawal from Newt Gingrich.

Instead, the former House Speaker issued a statement focusing on the “radical Islamist war” against America, and charged Obama with having tunnel vision.

“It would be helpful if President Obama had found time in his speech tonight to explain to the American people how we are going to win this war,” Gingrich said in a statement. “Giving a speech in isolation about our military operations in Afghanistan without explaining how it connects with a larger strategy for winning the war against radical Islamists does not help Americans understand what it will take to provide for the security of the American people.”

Texas Rep. Ron Paul, who has been a long-time advocate of pulling all U.S. forces out of Afghanistan, issued a statement via his spokesman Jesse Benton, charging Obama with making a military policy decision on political grounds.

“This move is too little, too late,” Benton said in an emailed statement. “When candidate Obama was running for the presidency, he campaigned largely on bringing our troops home, yet we are not only still in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we’ve expanded into Libya, Yemen, and Pakistan. Despite this purely political move, there will still be thousands of American soldiers in harm’s way by the end of this drawdown.”

Herman Cain, who has himself been charged with a dearth of foreign policy experience, again said the Obama administration routinely puts forward “foggy foreign policy.”

“President Obama’s statement tonight is a stark reminder that while one might campaign in poetry, one must govern in prose,” Cain said, adding that an “abrupt withdrawal” could endanger American troops.

And New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson made a pitch to a war-weary nation saying Obama’s pullout plan was “not acceptable to the growing number of Americans, like me, who get the reality that there is no compelling reason to risk another life or another dollar in a conflict that has no end.”

“Thanks to our quick and totally justified action in 2001, al Qaeda essentially left Afghanistan nine years ago,” Johnson said in a statement. “We should have done the same.”